Tuesday, October 28, 2014

This (Crazy) Week of 10/27-11/4

Homework
Practice expert project presentations at home.
Study for multiplication (3's times table)

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The increase in absences due to sickness (including my own) reminds me of a rap I did that won me an consolation prize award at a Speech/Debate tournament in high school. Not kidding.

You gotta wash your hands
You gotta wash 'em right
Don't give into germs without a fight
Gotta wash your hands gotta wash your hands gotta wash your hands.
Use water that's warm
And lots of soapy bubbles
These are your weapons for preventing germ troubles
Gotta wash your hands gotta wash your hands gotta wash your hands

Yeah, I rapped in high school. We all have things we're not proud of. But, the fact remains, you all know that there is a lot of crazy awful germ sickness stuff going around in school and out. I'm hammering washing hands in the classroom. As a result of the absences, we used today as a catch up/get on the same page day before presentations tomorrow.

But, it was good to get back to work with the kids. Here they are working on creating arrays as we work on multiplication.







We will begin presentations both days in the mornings. We will have three presenters and a 5 minute break afterward. Then, we'll start the process again. If you are coming, and you haven't let me know, please just shoot me an email and let me know. Thanks!

Technically, the nine-week period ended last Friday and the kids are presenting after the nine-week period ended. But, because it took up a good chunk of the nine-week period, I thought it should be included on your child's narrative report you will receive soon. Reports are due Wednesday, but I have requested a 2 day extension to ensure that I can have expert projects on the narrative report. I will be turning them in Friday morning to the front office. If you do not get them that Friday, it will most likely be the following Monday.

After presentations and lunch on Thursday, our school will have Gathering @ 12:30 and Fall Festival. Please send your child to school with comfortable tennis shoes you don't mind them getting dirty.

Friday, or Halloween as it is more commonly known in these parts, is a half day. We will still have Aftercare and there will be bag lunch if your child gets school lunch that day.

Then, there's the weekend...and what looks like fall temperatures!!! Oh, and don't forget to "fall back" on Sunday at 2:00 am.


Monday, after your clocks are changed, we will reconvene and have a normal school day. We will have a multiplication timed test on the 3's times table that day and focus the rest on the gubernatorial election and reading Stone Fox. 

Tuesday, we will NOT have school. I'll be voting, and I hope that you're able to do so as well! :)

Then, we'll see each other again on Wednesday.

I told you it was going to be a crazy week. But, we'll make it through together. Hakuna-matata.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Sketching for Expert Projects

This is one of our favorite videos:


We have been inspired by this video when it comes to making scientific sketches and giving specific feedback to each other. Today, we put these together as we sketched our animals for our expert projects.

Students paired up and sketched while coaching/getting coached on how to make the sketches as scientific as possible. Some students pointed out differences between sketches and the photographs. Some helped with size and finding important details. Here are some pictures from this morning.









Monday, October 20, 2014

10/20-10/24

This Week's Homework

Multiplication: Cumulative (0, 1, 2, 5, 9, 10) next Monday.
Spelling list: last, school, father, keep, trees, never, started, city, earth, eyes
Math packet: Due Monday; 30 multiplication practice problems, rounding with number lines to the nearest 10 and nearest 100.


This Week


Reading: Literature study around Stone Fox
Writing: Completing drafts of 2nd fiction stories, including a narrator, cursive 'B', using commas in dialogue
Math: Rounding to the nearest 10 and 100 without a number line, data analysis
Unit of Study: Working on expert projects

Upcoming Stuff and Dates

The end of the nine weeks is this Friday. Progress reports are due the following Wednesday and you will receive them after our front office does the things they need to do. Usually that Friday or the following Monday.

Library books from RCPL are due this Friday. I will remind students on Thursday if they need to take books home.

This week is a normal 5 day week; but there is some unique scheduling over the following two weeks. October 31st is a half day (11:30 dismissal), November 2nd is daylight savings (the one where we get an extra hour of sleep and everyone is really happy about it), we return on November 3rd only to have another day off on November 4th (Election Day). Whew!

Miss Newton will be with us Wednesday and next Wednesday and Thursday. The following week, she will be in our class Monday through Thursday until Thanksgiving break.

Thursday, Nov. 20 and Friday, Nov. 21, I will be presenting with some of our faculty at a conference in Washington D.C. Miss Newton will be here that Thursday running the class and there will be a substitute both days.

Monday, October 13, 2014

10/13-10/20

We will only have class Monday-Wednesday this week. During this week, we will not attend to our typical schedule as we prepare our expert projects. In addition to expert project research, we will be starting a new literature study on Stone Fox, responding through writing and discussion; we will do math assessments on advanced subtraction with regrouping and rounding to the nearest 100 in numbers that are greater than 3 digits; we will begin using commas when using quotation marks as we start the 1st drafts of our new fiction stories. Chances are these fiction stories will not be published before the nine weeks is up, but we will be able to work on 1st and 2nd drafts before then. Anyway, it's a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. Then, you guys will have a great 4-day weekend to look forward to!

Homework
1. Your child is bringing home flash cards for the 9's times table. We take timed tests every Monday morning.

2. Reading log: I have revised the reading log and I think these revisions will help with schedules at home, especially when other homework is due that week. Basically, they will log each of the 5 days, including # of pages read. Then, they can choose 2 days to write a response on the back. These are due Monday when we return to school.

Zoo pics from our class will be coming soon!

Monday, October 6, 2014

10/6-10/10

So THIS is the week that resources are due on Friday. Again, I can't believe how mixed up I got. And I double checked the calendar this time...yes, this Friday. :) So, your child is spending this week trying to locate appropriate resources for their animal expert project. Some already found some at the library; this would be a great opportunity for them to find online resources.

We won't have any additional homework this week, save studying for multiplication by 10. Since it's a simple multiplication strategy for that, I'm going to save my notecards for the more challenging times tables. Additionally, students should be reading each night at home.

Important Dates
10/9: Curriculum Night @ 7:00-7:45: Our class has been running SVC (Student Voice Committee) which is similar to student government/mediation/problem-solution, for our school. I am going to have the kids present what they have done thus far. Also, we will share our published pieces and share our plans for our new fiction stories to be published before the end of October.

10/10: Zoo Trip: So, here's the thing...buses are SUPPOSED to get here at 9:15, but I'm telling you that we've never arrived at the zoo before 10. If you are planning on coming, that's around the time we should arrive. We will split into 5 groups and study a particular habitat, comparing it to that animal's habitat in the wild. After lunch, we will go to a class on physical and behavioral adaptations. Then, it will be time to head back. Comfy shoes and a T-Shirt (if you already have a CFI shirt, it might be a good day) are a must. I don't think the kids will need sunblock since it's pretty wooded and the class will be indoors.

10/16-17: No school for students. I will be here on the 16th, but not the 17th.

10/24: End of Nine Weeks: Narrative reports will follow that next week.